90 gr mold for 380acp

[meshugunner]

I am looking to buy a 380acp micro something perhaps an LCP and reload for it. The smallest Lee in that dia is 105 gr RN. Is there anything lighter available? I would like to load light rounds so I can practice without a lot of recoil.

Thanks.

[warf73]

Lyman 2-Cavity Bullet Mold #356242 90gr.s
RCBS 2-Cavity Bullet Mold 38-090-RN

Sadly I missed the boat on Ranch Dogs 380acp boolit mold think it was 90grs aslo but in 6 cavity alum.

Hope this gets ya going.

Warf

[meshugunner]

Thanks Warf. That does get me going.

I found this:

TL358-100-RF $60.00 (http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_24&products_id=20)

it's a 6 cav 95gr al but it sizes to .358 which I find confusing.

[MikeS]

What are you confused about? Sizing to .358 should work without any problems is a 380. In fact many members here have found that both 380 & 9mm boolits shoot better when sized to .358 than when sized to .356 Ranchdog only shows 13 of that mould in stock, and considering that he's closing down his business, I would grab one of those moulds ASAP. Remember, if for some reason it doesn't work for you, or you just don't like it, you can sell it here in the for sale subforum.

[warf73]

Thats the one I was talking about better get one of them molds. I just bought 2 of them (thought they were all gone) for our 380's

[warf73]

Ranchdog only shows 13 of that mould in stock, and considering that he's closing down his business, I would grab one of those moulds ASAP.

Make that 11 molds left :)

[meshugunner]

Ok, make that 10. I don't even own a 380 yet. I blame you guys for this impulse purchase. :)

I am cofnused. I am new to reloading. I load .38Sp which I size to .357 and 9mm which I size to .356 in my Lee sizer dies. I have heard of loading .38Sp with unsized bullets at .358. Are you saying the bullets from this mold are best loaded unsized at .358" ? That's 2 thou over the specced bore. Wouldn't that create chambering issues?

At .358 I could load these as low recoil .38Sp rounds for my snubbie.

I don't mean to be difficult. Just trying to a grip on all this stuff.

[Iron Mike Golf]

When you get your pistol, slug the barrel so you can measure the groove diameter. Size your boolits .001-.002 over that.

SAAMI spec for .380 groove diameter is .355-.359. Same numbers for 9mm and 357 Mag. My 9mm and 380 Auto guns (PK380, SR9c, P238) are .356. I size to .358 and all are happy. So are my S&W Model 28, Ruger Blackhawk 357 Mag, and Rossi Model 92 in 357 Mag.

[fecmech]

The RD bullet is an excellent one for the .380 and a great light weight bullet in the .38 spl. Check out this thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139563

I size to .358 for both my Keltec .380 (.355 groove) and my .38 spl. Works great both places.

[mtgrs737]

I load that Lee boolit for a LCP and find it to be both accurate and not a hard kicker. I size it to .357" and load it over 2.7 grains of Bullseye. Always check to see that the loaded round will drop in to the chamber of the pistol freely so that when fired the case can expand to let go of the boolit. Also check that the loaded round is not engauging the rifling when dropped into the chamber so that upon firing it will not generate excessive pressures. Don't be afraid of the Lee boolit it cost very little to give it a try.

[MikeS]

When I load for 9mm I size the boolits to .358 just as I do for 38Spec. When I load for 45's I size to .452 and have never had a problem related to the boolit's size, and normally I get no leading either. I would think the 380 would work equally well when sized to .358 but I've never reloaded for 380 so I can't tell you for sure. The best way to find out if you're going to have chambering problems is to make up a dummy cartridge (seat a boolit in a case with no powder or primer) and drop it into the chamber of your pistol. If the cartridge goes all the way into the chamber without needing to be pushed in, then you shouldn't have chambering problems. As for accuracy, the best thing to do is try some sized to .358 and some sized to .357 and even .356 then see which one is best. You can buy Lee sizing dies fairly cheaply, so you can use them to size your boolits without spending lots of money, and then just keep them, even once you find the size you need, you never know when you might need one of the other ones for another gun.

[2wheelDuke]

I like that little Ranch Dog boolit. I bought the mold for my Kel-Tec. I give them a light coat of 45-45-10 lube, size them to .358, and tumble again in another light coat of 45-45-10 to re-coat where the sizer pushed lube off the bearing surface.

The Kel-Tec runs great with them, as expected. I told people that I planned to try them in a PPK, and they told me good luck. My Interarms PPK eats them right up as well.

Then I tried loading that same boolit with Bullseye behind it for 9x19. I ran them in an old S&W Sigma and they shot pretty well there too. The Sigma and a KelTec PF9 didn't mind them sized to .358 either.

I do have a .356 sizer that I bought with my 1st .380 mold, the Lee 356-102-1R. Because of what I'd read here, I started with the .358 sizer and found that they worked well. From what I can see loading my cases on my press with my dies and shooting them from my gun, the .358 runs just as well as .356.

I like sizing them .358 because I can also load them for a light .38/.357 round. I've loaded .38 with the same moderate Bullseye charge I use for 158gr SWC plinkers, and it runs like a dream. They weren't as fast as I expected on the chrony, but they group well and still give bowling pins and plates hell at 50 yards.

It's a bit off-topic in a thread about .380, but that boolit is a great light .38 round for either plinking or practice. I had my friend's wife shooting them in her J-frame to help get her to stop flinching and jerking the gun around so bad.

Back on the topic of the .380, I used Ranch Dog's data as a reference, and have measured them at 1000fps out of my P3AT with my chrony a cable length away from the muzzle.

[smkummer]

I second the Lyman 358242 sized to .356 and charged with 231. About 1000 FPS out of my 1908 Colt 380. Super reliable and powerful for a pocket gun.

[turbo1889]

AM# 35-090A (http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-090A-D.png)

AM# 35-090B (http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-090B-D.png)

[clintsfolly]

Have a Acc Mold # 35-090a in a 5 cac that just rains boolits but the best part is they shoot well in my 380acp and my 38sp's. Sized .385 Clint

[MUSTANG]

I use the RCBS 9mm-124-RN mold, and 2.5 grains of Unique or 2.0 grains of Bullseye for use in my .380 Bersa Model 383A. This pistol is a bit larger and heavier than yours, so the load might bite a little in a much lighter LCP. I size boolits to .357 for the .380.


Mustang

[meshugunner]

I am wondering about the recoil. The LCP is a lot lighter than comparable models by other mfrs. I have an LC9 and there is surprisingly little recoil. I am waiting till Jan to actually buy the LCP - should be some good deals - though it's not an expensive gun - under $300 on GunsAmerica. Meanwhile I will get the reload kit together.

Thanks all for your advice. It helps

[cajun shooter]

Many reloaders of today try to say the 380 and 9mm were meant to be the same as the 38spl. and 357 magnum guns and that is very wrong.
The 380ACP was used in Europe before making our coastline and it was known by many names including 9mm Kurz which is short IIRC.
The standard for both guns if you care to look in any of the older gun manuals is .355 This is also true for the 9MM.
If you insist on loading .358 bullets you will do some not so good things if your gun is of the correct specs. The neck expander of your die set should be miked to see what size it is. If it is of the correct size then you will shave lead on loading and cause a bulge at the front of your case on bullet seating.
I remember when Lee Jurras came out with the Super Vel ammo and loading components.
Many reloaders of that time were using the 88-90 grain 380-9mm bullet in the 357magnum and getting some unreal FPS but terrible accuracy. This was due to the .003 to .004 difference in barrel size.
A lot of the gun companies have taken it upon themselves to make guns out of specification so that they may use the same ammo from another caliber.
Ruger and Marlin are two that did so with the return of the 44WCF round. They make them with the same bore size as the 44 spl. and 44 magnum. This is of course wrong but they do it anyway. The correct bore size for the 44WCF is set at .427 In fact when Winchester first brought out the round in 1873 for their new rifle they were with .425 bores.
If you buy a Marlin in that caliber, it will be .430 or larger. The same goes for Rugers.
The correct bullet for any 380ACP is to slug your bore first. Don't shoot a .358 or .359 bullet down a .354 barrel.
I know that plenty of you have done so and that is fine, but if you have a gun that was made to the correct sizes then your results will suffer. Take time to see what bore you have and not what some one else does with a different gun.

[fecmech]

I am wondering about the recoil.

I have shot both the LCP and Keltec .380's. To me they are not pleasant to shoot with max loads of 90 - 100 gr bullets at 900 fps. I back off my practice loads to about 800 fps which for me is more tolerable. I shoot the carry load enough to guarantee reliability and that's it. I can't imagine what one of those S&W scandium .357's would feel like with a 170 "Keith" over a max load of 296 or 2400!

[fcvan]

My first .380 was a Beretta M70 marked 9mm Corto(short). I bought the Lee 356-102 1R (weighs 105 with range scrap) and the the 358-105 SWC (weighs 110 with range scrap) for use in that pistol. I load both of those boolits with 3 grains of Bullseye. the Beretta is one of the few guns I have ever sold. A buddy had a M71 in .22 and wanted a mate for it. The Berreta was styled like the Walther PP and single action. The 102 and 105 shot quite well in the heavier Beretta. My next .380 was an FEG PA63, a Walther PPK/S knockoff. It also shoots quite well.

Last year, my wife bought me a Taurus TCP 738 which compares to the LCP and the Keltec. Using the same load (102 1R 3 gr Bullseye) I was able to hit pop cans at 25 yards on its first trip to the range. I size to .358 for .380 and set my dies to a factory cartridge. I checked the boolit in the chambers of 6 different .380 pistols, including an LCP. Although I have not personally shot my load through the LCP my brother has. He has a Walther PPK and his son in law has the LCP. My brother doesn't like the recoil of my Taurus or the LCP as he's spoiled by his Walther.

Yes, the little guns are harder to shoot due to their size and weight. I don't think the difference between the 90 grain and 105 is that astronomical. I would think that a good compromise would be to take the 356-102 1R and have it HP'd by one of the members here. That would bring the weight down and retain the profile of the boolit which in my experience has shot well through every .380 I've gotten my hands on. Frank

[meshugunner]

I much appreciate all the contributions and it's good to know this is not a settled issue, but I am not going to get caught up in an argument about thousandths of an inch on bore dia. I don't know enough to have an opinion and for the .380 it won't matter much since it's a DAO pistol for tactical shooting. If I can get a consistent 2" @10yds I'll be happy. Hitting a bullseye @25yds with that kind of gun is way out of my league.

On the strength of the info here, I did load up some unsized .358 102 gn SWC's in .38Sp and there is a very slight bulge but they chamber fine.

I have a BlackHawk (.357mag/9mm) & S&W 686 which I shoot for accuracy. On those guns I will experiment with oversized bullets and I will also slug the barrels. Again, at my skill level I don't think it will make much difference but I hope to get to the point where it does and it's always good to learn more about what I am doing.

My Airweight J Frame weighs about the same as the LC9 but with .38Sp the recoil is nasty. I load 102gn SWCs with very soft charges for practice. I can shoot full strength 9mms through the LC9 all day long.

[340six]

I second the Lyman 358242 sized to .356 and charged with 231. About 1000 FPS out of my 1908 Colt 380. Super reliable and powerful for a pocket gun.
That's what I use I also have a 358242 that i size down to 356 and is 125 grains
I also use Red Dot as I have plenty on hand
Both shoot well in the PPK/S and the Mustang